Aunt Jennifer, though she is "mastered by" an abusive husband, finds an artistic outlet in her needlework. The embroidered tigers stride proudly and without fear across the screen she designed. Through Aunt Jennifer's art, Adrienne Rich suggests that women who are not able to live freely do triumph in some way because their imaginations cannot be captured or controlled. Aunt Jennifer is able to imagine and create a world where men are nothing to fear, and this artistic vision outlives her small, "terrified" hands.